As we've all read, Mark McKinnon has left the John McCain campaign due to a promise not to campaign against Barack Obama. A former Democrat, the now Republican and "close personal friend of George W Bush" McKinnon showed remarkable honesty in keeping his pledge to resign. And in doing so, whether he knows it or not, I think McKinnon just sealed the deal for Obama
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I say that McKinnon just sealed the deal for Obama because he has given other Republicans a way out. A way to save face before the upcoming slaughter in November.
Lets be fair here. I just as much as anyone else get wrapped up in partisan feelings. But not every Republican is a bad person. Many of them are actually decent human beings who simply have different outlooks on this country than us. People who I might argue are wrong 80%+ of the time but at least seem honest in their reasoning and intentions. Well, McKinnon just stepped off the boat into a life raft and left the door open.
Imagine you are a fiscal conservative Republican right now. You have to feel like the Bad News Bears taking the field against the Yankees. About to get your ass kicked. Absolutely no reason to be excited about John McCain. He is going to have a larger federal government than Barack Obama. Hell, just his "Big Brother" will probably be larger than Obama's government. McCain is going to waste more of your money than Obama. McCain might make those tax cuts permanent, but good luck with that while we spend another 8 years at war. Those tax cuts don't seem as good if you let Dr. McCainlove shitcan the economy in the name of protectin' freedom. You might even be worried about getting the ultimate tax cut of them all...being out of work. No taxes on your $0 income, baby!
And yet, almost every single moderate Republican feels like they can't support Barack Obama. They have too much to lose by doing that. If you're a low level K-Street nobody are you really looking to publicly endorse Barack Obama? Probably not. If you're a mid level corporate executive and your boss has a picture of Bush on his desk...probably not. I could go on all day thinking of scenarios but you get the picture. Otherwise reasonable people who for some reason feel like they can't come out and support Barack.
Well...who needs 'em. Because Mark McKinnon just gave them the next best option. Quit the whole campaign with dignity.
It's beautiful. Bush isn't going to be out bashing his close personal friend. When others do the same thing won't his hands be similarly tied? If he bashes them the question will come back to McKinnon. Same situation for McCain.
It's clear, the script has been written for every prominent Republican who is wincing at November. Drop out, say you'll vote for McCain, then in November do what feels right.
Sure, that isn't as great as we'd like. Of course we'd love for him to join the Obama campaign. Just like I'd love Chuck Hagel to come out and endorse Barack. But if you're not going to get that, isn't retirement and then silence the next best thing?
For what it's worth, I think we should be respectful anytime a Republican does this. It's easy to be jaded, but in the end November is an "Us vs Them" game and if someone drops off the "Them" team we should applaud. Hell, depending on the overall right wing reaction and what McCain goes on to say some of these people might be pushed into action on our side.
So, to any Republicans who might read this I hope you think long and hard about it. If you can't back Barack Obama due to personal interests, there's no shame in sitting this one out. Catch up on your reading. See a bunch of movies. Take a trip to Amsterdam until this all blows off. So long as you're not working to elect John McCain and by process Bush Term 3 you have my respect. Even people like McKinnon who were going to be part of Team McCain versus Hillary deserve some respect.
In the end, that's -1 soldier for the Republican's 2008 election. I hope by the time the aftershocks of his announcement have died down that number grows hugely. And when President Barack Obama takes office I hope he remembers them and treats them fairly. Since I have no doubts of President Obama treating everyone fairly that should be easy.
So thanks Mark. You just made it ok for Republicans to pick "none of the above" and not feel bad. Kudos. And don't feel bad if you wind up voting for Barack Obama but tell your friends you voted McCain. John himself sees no problem in white lies about election votes!